Psalms 36:8

They shall be abundantly sallied with the fatness of thy house,.... By his "house" is meant the church of God, of his building, and where he dwells; by the fatness of it the provisions there, the

They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

They, i. e. those children of men who trust in thee, as he now said, shall be abundantly satisfied; though now they are straitened, oppressed, and persecuted, yet they shall not only be protected and supported for the present, but in due time shall have all their wants and desires fully satisfied. Heb. shall be made drunk, i.e. shall be as it were overwhelmed with the plenty of it, which they shall no more be able to comprehend than a drunken man is able perfectly to understand and judge of things; and shall be free, as drunken men also are, from all cares and fears, either of not obtaining it, or of losing it. With the fatness of thy house; with those rich and delightful provisions which thou hast prepared for them in thy habitation, i.e. either, 1. In the tabernacle, where they used to feast upon the remainders of the sacrifices; to which also he seems here to allude. Or rather, 2. In heaven; which is called God’ s house, both in Scripture, as , and in divers ancient heathen authors. For the expressions here used are too magnificent to be bestowed upon those feasts, or indeed upon any of the enjoyments of this life, and do ill become him, who professedly disowns the having of his portion in this life, and declares his expectation of happiness in the next life, ,15. And seeing it is apparent from Hebrews 11, and from many other scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, that both David, and Job, and Abraham, and the rest of the holy patriarchs and prophets, had a firm belief and hope of the future life, and their felicity therein; it seems most reasonable to understand all those passages of David and the other prophets of it, which naturally, and without any force, may be so understood; of which number certainly this verse and the following is one. Drink: before they had fatness, i.e. fat meats; and now drink, to note the completeness of their feast. Of the river; which notes both their plenty, and their constancy and perpetuity. Of thy pleasures; which thou preparest, and which thou enjoyest; whence it is called the joy of the Lord, . Or this notes their great eminency; for things most excellent in their kinds are entitled to God, as the goodliest cedars, mountains, &c., are called cedars of God, mountains of God, &c.

Psalms 36:8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.Ver. 8. They shall be abundantly satisfied] Heb. watered, inebriated. They shall be plentifully provided for, as the domestics; they shall have a confluence of all comforts and contentments for this life and a better; for godliness hath the promises of both. Hic locus est consolationis plenissimus, saith one. And thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasure] And so utterly quench their thirst after the world and sin. Clitorio quicunque sitim de fonte levarit, Vina fugit.

(8) They shall be abundantly satisfied.—Better, in order to preserve the parallelism, literally, They shall drink to the full. LXX. and Vulg., “They shall be intoxicated with,” &c Fatness, therefore, is not here the fat of the sacrificial offerings, but the stream of grace flowing from above, to enrich men as the rain enriches the earth. (Comp. Psalms 65:11, where “fatness” means “fertilising showers”) The house of God may either be the whole earth (Gesenius), or, more probably, heaven, just as the temple is used (Psalms 11:4; Psalms 18:6; Psalms 29:9). God’s loving-kindness is regarded as “An endless fountain of immortal drink, Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.” KEATS: Endymion.

Verse 8. They shall be abundantly satisfied] ירוין yirveyun, they shall be saturated, as a thirsty field is by showers from heaven. Inebriaduntur, they shall be inebriated.-Vulgate. That sal be drunken of the plenteuoste of thi house. - Old Psalter. This refers to the joyous expectation they had of being restored to their own land, and to the ordinances of the temple. Of the river of thy pleasures.] נחל אדניך nachal adaneycha, (or עדנך edencha, as in four MSS.,) the river of thy Eden. They shall be restored to their paradisaical estate; for here is a reference to the river that ran through the garden of Eden, and watered it; Genesis 2:10. Or the temple, and under it the Christian Church, may be compared to this Eden; and the gracious influences of God to be had in his ordinances, to the streams by which that garden was watered, and its fertility promoted.

8. God is more than a protector. He is a bountiful host, who provides royal entertainment for His guests. Cp. Psalms 23:5-6; Psalms 27:4; Psalms 65:4. The metaphor is derived from the sacrificial meal, in which God receives the worshipper at His table[12] (Leviticus 7:15; Jeremiah 31:14). That welcome is the sacramental expression of His relation to man. [12] See Bp. Westcott’s Hebrews, p. 292.the river of thy pleasures] Or, the stream (Amos 5:24) of thy delights: a different word from that in Psalms 16:11, and derived from the same root as Eden.

They shall be abundantly satisfied - Margin, “watered.” That is, all who thus put their trust in the mercy of God.

8. Fatness of thy house—The Church, with her doctrines, ordinances, spiritual communions, is here compared to a house furnished with every luxury for the household.